


Strangers Like Me

by oscar_milde



Category: Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff, barista!Armin, idk if astrophysics is even a real thing, precious Armin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 20:27:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13489119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oscar_milde/pseuds/oscar_milde
Summary: Bookstore AU at a university. Armin fluff.





	Strangers Like Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is so old but im posting it here now. Im aware it’s trash and it was written in a first person pov at first so if there are some i/me/mine/we/you/your/whatever errors, thats why.

4:59 PM

"What do you mean you're out?" You ask the boy around 18 or so with freckles spread across his face. He's quite adorable and you feel bad that you’re giving him such a hard time. 

"Another box has already been ordered, it should be here in about two weeks," he said. 

"Two weeks?" you squeaked. "I can't do two weeks, I need volume nine soon. Volume eight ended in a cliffhanger," You sigh. Annie turned into a crystal and Titans broke into Wall Rose. You needed to know what was going to happen. 

"I'm sorry. I feel your pain. We're out of stock in all the volumes and I'm barely at chapter one," the freckled boy sighs. 

"You've got a long way to go, buddy."

"I know. Well I think the books should be here in about two weeks. I'll see if I can reserve one for you, but if someone else comes and asks for it I have to give them the preference."

"It's okay. I guess I'll see you in two weeks," you look at the clock behind the counter and notice that it's five o'clock. You should get going to grab a coffee at the shop next door and make my way to check on my Organic Chemistry project. This bookstore and the coffee shop as well as the IHOP and McDonald's (plus other stores) are run by the university and are here to let a few college students earn some money. You work at the McDonald's down the street. 

"Yeah, sorry about the manga," he apologizes. 

"No problem," you breathe. Not a problem. It's not his fault. It is an inconvenience. You just really wanted to get cracking on volume 9. 

Just then the door opens and the cold gust of January-in-Atlanta air comes through the door and chills your legs through your jeans, boots that come mid-shin and thick winter coat that goes down mid-thigh. You turn around and look at the person who just joined you in this small and empty bookstore. 

"Hey, Marco I brought you coffee. We have to get to meet up with Connie- oh. Hi," a boy with two different shades of brown hair comes in. He's in all winter gear and he's holding a cup of coffee. You wave and turn back to Marco. 

"Eren hasn't come in yet. I can't leave the shop alone-"

And then the door opens again, this time revealing a tall boy with dark brown hair, beautiful tan skin and bright turquoise eyes. 

"About time, Jaeger. We have to do something and we can't be late because of you," Jean says. 

"Shut up, horse face. I don't know how Marco can put up with your crap. You're not good enough for him," the boy says and walks behind the counter as Marco exits and puts on a coat. 

"Let's go," Marco says and grabs the coffee from Jean with his left hand and slips his right into Jean's. They turn and head out and I follow. 

"Wait, what's your name?" Marco asks you.

"(Y/N)," you answer. He nods. 

"Okay. Well, see you, (Y/N)," he says. They head towards the right and you go left. You enter the small coffee shop and go straight for the counter. 

"Hi, may I help you?"

"Um, medium latte macchiato," you tell the small blonde boy working there. His hair is almost shoulder length and his eyes are blue like the ocean. 

"That'll be $3.07," he says and you take out some crumpled dollar bills out of your pocket. He's the only one here so he goes off and makes the coffee. You actually didn't expect anyone to be working here, honestly. You still have a about a week and a half before the semester starts up so most people will pour in until the last couple of days. The fact that you stayed on campus to work on some extensive projects that demand constant check-ups limited your days to go home to zero. Plus, because you are one of the few that stayed, you've been stuck working the midnight shift at McDonald's for the past two weeks. Fun. 

The boy returns with your coffee and hands it to you. His soft fingers touch yours and your cold cheeks flare as do his. "Thanks," you whisper and turn to leave. You drink from the cup and burn your tongue as you climb into your cold car and begin to drive towards the campus. A mile is too long to be walking around in this damn cold.   
 

12:07 AM 

You flip through your notes and you drop some ketchup on them. 

"Crap," you whisper and wipe it off. There's no one here, but you whisper because it feels weird to talk loudly when you're alone in a fast food place and it's freaking midnight. You pop another chicken nugget in your mouth and the door opens. You chew quickly and stuff all the papers in a folder and stick it under the counter. 

"Hi, may I help you?" You ask and realize that it's the same boy who served your coffee today. Yesterday. Whatever. 

"Can I get some chicken McNuggets and coffee?" he asks. You notice his blue eyes and you’re put in a trance. The way he speaks is just so... you can't describe it. 

"Sure, but couldn't you have gotten the coffee at work?" You ask and type the order in. You tell him the total and he hands over the money. 

"Yeah, but I couldn't have gotten the nuggets. Or the Wi-Fi," he gestures to his laptop bag across his shoulder. How did you not notice? You need sleep. 

"Oh." You grab a coffee cup and ask him how much he needs. When he tells you he wants it full, you think. 

"Completely black?" You’re astounded. 

"Looks like it's going to be a busy night because my roommate's router got messed up and we haven't had internet the whole day," he explained as you handed it to him. 

"That sounds tough. I'll get your nuggets," you turn to the back and heat up the nuggets. It's kind of disgusting how you don't make new ones that often but you still eat them. 

You stand there as they become a golden color and your cheeks flush at the thought that it's only you and him in here. 

No, it's just the nugget heat. Calm down. 

Sure. Blame the nuggets. 

You put the nuggets in the box and put it in a tray with sauce, ketchup and napkins. 

"I would call out your order but," you shrug, "there's no one else here."

"It's fine. Thanks," he whispered and took the tray. He had set up his laptop and had it charging to the wall. You watched him as he drank his coffee and licked his lips. 

Your stomach gave an uncomfortable jump. 

You went to the back and got more nuggets to finish going over your Astrophysics notes and stress at the fact that you didn't understand what the hell it was talking about. 

The time kept going and soon it was 2 am. Armin kept refilling his coffee and you watched him every once in a while. The way his hands flashed over the keys without stopping. The way he would stop and think for a minute and get this look in his eyes like he knew what to say and then he would type again. It was a continuous cycle and close to 3 he shut down his laptop and threw away his fourth cup of coffee. 

"Well, I have to go," he walked up to the counter. You sat up straight and hoped that you didn't look too much like a zombie. 

"I- uh have a nice day," you murmured. You glanced at the windows and it was still dark. You looked at him and he was so pretty. Was it possible for a guy to be pretty? Reiner was hot. He's one of your best friends and you don't see him that way but he is. Bertholdt is cute. 

You remembered that the boy is still here and you look at his bright blue eyes. He didn't look like he just spent 3 hours typing an essay. 

"You'll be fine by yourself?" he asked. You almost wanted to hug him because of his consideration.   
You wanted to say no. No, you just wanted to quit college because the classes were so hard even though you were the best student at Rose High School and keeping up meant going to the classes and then studying endlessly but you also had to keep yourself alive so you had to work to buy food and working made you lose more sleep than you normally would and because you’re so stressed you eat and you swear you’ve gained like 5 pounds just this week alone and you want to just go back to Rose High School with Reiner and Bertholdt and go back to Shinganshina and go to Friday night football games and watch Reiner be the best quarterback and watch Bertholdt play the saxophone but now Reiner got into Notre Dame and Bertholdt is in New York and there's nothing for you in Shinganshina because your family sucks and the only reason you came to college was to get away from them and you want to make a name for yourself and not just be "the girl that's friends with Reiner and Bertl" and you want to be smart like this blonde boy standing in front of you probably is and you want to be as sweet as Marco and as caring as Jean seems to be and as carefree as Eren appears and you just don't want to be you and you just want to cry and sleep and have time pause so you can rearrange your life because it keeps spiraling down into nothing and YOU CAN'T STOP IT.   
"I'll be okay. My shift ends in two hours," you reassure him. 

"Oh. Well. See you," he looks like he wants to say something else but doesn't. He pulls his light blue scarf over his nose and walks out. 

You sigh and a stray tear comes out. You wipe it off and stare at your notes until you can't read them because of the blurs in your eyes and the smudges on the page.   
 

2 Weeks Later 11:38 AM  
You rush into the small bookstore as you clutch your Astrophysics textbook to your chest. The snow has stopped but the wind has picked up. You pat your hair in an effort to tame it. 

There's Marco at the counter. 

"Hey (Y/N)," he says. 

"Hey, Marco. Did they come in yet?" You ask. Please. You need a distraction from almost failing science. 

"Actually, they came in two weeks ago," he mumbled and he scratched the back of his neck. 

"What."

"Yeah it turns out they had ordered it two weeks before, not that they were gonna be here in two weeks. Last I checked there was still one volume left and... there it is," he points to the books in the hands of a blonde boy. The same boy from the coffee shop. The same boy from McDonald's. He's holding your volume 9. 

"Oh. Well, he's here and he got it before I did. It's fine," you nod. You want to say that it's not fine but you pretend. 

"If you had it on hold then you can have it, I'm sorry," he says and holds the books out to you. 

"I didn't have them on hold," you shake your head and ignore the books. You take your phone out of your pocket and go to contacts and add 'Marco'. "Here, next time they come in, remember to text me," you give the phone to Marco and he puts his number in. 

"Will do," he nods and gives the phone back to you. 

"I gotta go study. Astrophysics is a pain especially when you don't understand," you turn and head out, on your way to the coffee shop next door. You really need to do something about the caffeine addiction. Not because you’re actually worried about your health but because it’s starting to get kind of expensive having to keep buying coffee.

"Wait," a small hand touches your shoulder and you find the blonde behind you. He's carrying a bag with the bookstore's logo printed on it. "You said that Astrophysics is a pain."

"It is. That's not my major, I don't know why I have to take three courses on it," you sigh. 

"If you want, I could help you. Astrophysics actually is my major," he smiles. Immediately your heart swells. 

"Could you? That would be great! I need the help," you felt excited. 

"I would love to help. Come on," he pulled you into the coffee shop and you gladly accompanied him. 

You spent an hour talking. It started off as science then it led to each other. 

Summary: You understood astrophysics much better but you understood that you liked Armin Arlert more. 

You waved goodbye and promised to meet up again the next day to "keep the study session going."

You know you’re using that as an excuse. 

You walked down the concrete sidewalk to the science building while a certain blonde walked back into the bookstore. 

"Hi, again," Marco greeted as Armin went in. 

"When are the books in volume nine coming in?" Armin asked politely. 

"In exactly one week. Why?"

"Just," Armin hesitated. "When they come, don't text (Y/N). I'll get them for her," he said. 

"Okay, then."  
 

One Week Later 7:39 PM

From: Armin   
I'll be there in about 5 minutes

You glanced at your phone and happiness filled your heart. You’ve been hanging out every day for the past week and every single day he becomes cuter and you learn something new about him and he just has this amazing character.

To: Armin  
Okay. I'll see you. 

You wanted to write more. 

'I can't wait'

'I'm so happy'

'I love you'

But you couldn't. Why? Because why would someone as smart and pretty as Armin want someone as normal as you? At least you could see him from up close. 

You wandered around your small dorm you shared with Sasha Braus and picked up some stuff. She was out for the evening on a date with Connie and you were glad. They were so cute together. 

Before you knew it there was a knock on the door and you flew to open it. 

"Hi," Armin said as soon as the door was open. 

"Hey," you sighed and got lost in his blue eyes. You invited him in but he stood by the door. You noticed he had a bag and he handed it to you. You took it and checked what was inside. 

"Volume nine?" you asked as you took out the books. A small lump formed in your throat. "You got it for me?"

"Yeah," he whispered and you set the books down on your desk. In one rash decision you hugged him.   
"Thank you," you mumbled into his jacket. 

"I would do everything for you," he whispered against your ear. Your heart warmed and you leaned away from him. His blue eyes were right in front of you. Your eyes flickered to his pink lips and his eyes went to yours. You met each other half-way. 

His lips were soft. He smelled of freshly brewed coffee and you suspected he just got out of work.   
Your hands went up to his shoulders and his were settled at your waist. You began to walk backwards, careful of where you were going. 

You sat on the bed and brought him along. After a while of soft kisses you stepped it up a notch. You pushed him down and straddled his waist. You heard him gasp. 

You might've learned a few smooth moves from Reiner. 

You finally stopped and took a breath. 

"I really like you," he said. 

"Well I hope so or else this would be so awkward," you laughed and he laughed with you. You bent down and you kissed him again. His hands were light around your thighs. Your hands were wrapped around his arms. 

You kissed him again and again. 

Volume 9 lay forgotten on the desk.

**Author's Note:**

> Also on Quotev. Follow me there @oscarmilde and on tumblr @oscar-mildes


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